


Cider Mill

by pinecovewoods



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, cider mill au, race in a flannel and a beanie will be the death of me, some of the other boys are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 17:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16896894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinecovewoods/pseuds/pinecovewoods
Summary: Logically, when Race texted her and asked if she wanted to join the group outing to the nearest cider mill, she knew it wasn't a date.But when he offered to pick her up and drive her, something felt different. When he commented on her outfit, told her she lookedpretty, something felt different. When he opened the car door for her both at her house and at the mill, something felt different.





	Cider Mill

Logically, when Race texted her and asked if she wanted to join the group outing to the nearest cider mill, she knew it wasn't a date. 

But when he offered to pick her up and drive her, something felt different. When he commented on her outfit, told her she looked _pretty_ , something felt different. When he opened the car door for her both at her house and at the mill, something felt different. 

The smell of apple cider and the crunching of the leaves beneath their feet greeted them as they arrived, the first of the group.

"God I love fall," she smiles, looking up at the multicolored leaves, "best season by far."

"I agree," Race smiles, tugging the beanie down over his ears, "bit cold for early October though, you sure you're gonna be okay in that?"

The girl nods, buttoning the cuffs of the flannel.

"Yeah, I should be fine," she says, "your concern is noted, though."

Race smiles, and she tries to convince herself that the red on his cheeks is from the wind blowing through the trees.

"Still," he says, reaching into the backseat of the car, "you should wear this, just in case," he hands her the beanie, and immediately shoves his hands in his pockets, "don't want you getting sick or something."

She blushes, and hopes he doesn't notice as she slips the beanie over her head.

"Thanks, Race," she whispers, and glances down the gravel path, "have you gotten any messages from any of the others?"

"Yeah," he replies, "Jack and Davey should still be coming, Albert and Elmer too, but I haven't heard anything from anyone else."

She nods again.

"Do you wanna wait here or walk around a bit?" He asks. "We can walk down the path, maybe get some cider to warm up a bit?"

_Not a date._

"Yeah, sure," she smiles, "they can meet us whenever they get here."

Race smiles again, and they start down the leaf covered path.

"You know I've never actually been to one of these," he says a few minutes later, hands in his pockets as he kicks a rock along the path.

"Seventeen years old and you've never been to a cider mill?" She asked, shocked. "That's like...criminal."

"Well good thing I'm here now," he replies, laughing a bit, "no but really, I've never had a reason to come. Every year it's couples and shit, even within our friend group, and I hated third wheeling."

"And now?"

Race stumbles a bit, eyes locked on the gravel beneath their feet.

"You said you would come," he mumbles, "I wouldn't be alone then and I...I didn't wanna pass up on spending time with you."

She's almost positive he can see the blush spread across her cheeks, and she keeps her gaze away from his own.

"I..." she smiles, "Race that's so sweet."

"It's sappy," Race rubs his hand over his neck, "and embarrassing."

"No, really," she shakes her head, "it's sweet...no one's ever said something like that to me before."

Race smiles, and something feels different.

They walk in silence until they come across a small pumpkin patch.

"Oh my god, Race," she says, smiling wide, "we have to take pictures."

The boy bites back a smile as she takes his hand, dragging him through the pumpkin patch until she finds what she's looking for.

"Here, okay," she stops them, pointing, "stand there."

Race does as she says, the smile coming easy to his face as she snaps a few pictures.

"Oh my god, I love these," she says, looking down at her phone as Race makes his way back over to her, "how do you look so good all of the time? It's so effortless, like you're wearing a flannel and a beanie and somehow..."

She trails off, and Race can't help but fill in the gap with his own words. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, smiling.

"C'mon, your turn," he nods over to the spot he was once in.

"Oh god, no," she shakes her head, "I'm the photographer, not the model."

"You're definitely a model," Race says without thinking, "I...I mean, you take good pictures and everything but you deserve some of your own and I," he scuffs his shoe in the ground, shrugging, "I wanna take some. I mean, obviously as long as your comfortable."

She blushes again, and something tells her that she's going to do a lot of that as long as Race is around.

"Okay, but after we need some of both of us," she says, and relishes the smile that stretches across his face.

He snaps more than a few pictures, smiling at the silly poses she pulled as well as the candids he took while she wasn't aware.

He finds a mom with her kids, and kindly asks her if she would take a few pictures of him and Y/N together.

The first one is normal, them standing with nervous arms around each other and bright smiles on their faces.

"Okay, one more," he says, and takes a deep breath. He turns to face her. "Promise you won't hate me?"

"What? I...course Race. I could never hate you."

Race nods, and breathes out through his nose. Gently, he takes her face in his hands and tilts her face up, pressing their lips together as he hears the faint shutter sounds coming from his phone.

It's a chaste kiss, just a few seconds, but it still takes her breath away. Race pulls away with a smile, swallowing back his nerves. Reluctantly, he steps away from her, thanking the woman and taking his phone back.

"I um," she shakes her head, clearing her thoughts, "send those to me, yeah?"

Race grins, nodding vigorously. 

"I," he smiles shyly, sticking his phone in his pocket, "I hope that was um, okay, I guess."

"Definitely okay," she responds, "more than okay, actually."

Race laughs a bit, taking her hand into his own. 

"I uh, actually gotta bit of a confession to make," he says as they walk back down the path, "I kinda told Albert and everyone not to come..."

She raises an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue.

"Well I just...I didn't really know how to ask you out and," he shrugs, "Davey suggested it, actually, said that I should tell you everyone was coming and ask you to join too. Honestly didn't think you'd say yes."

She smiles, and swings their hands slightly as they walk.

"Davey's always been the smart one," she replies, "glad you listened to him."

"Glad I did too," Race laughs, "cider?"

She nods, and Race leads her over to one of the stands along the path, ordering and paying despite her protests.

They sit at a picnic table, hands connected as she leans her head on his shoulder.

"Always wanted to go on a date to a cider mill," she says quietly, sipping at the drink, "glad my first one is with you."

"First one?" Race smiles. "What, cider mill dates going to become a regular thing?"

"Gonna become our thing," she revises, causing him to laugh, "I like being with you, I like being here with you."

Race's face reddens, and he presses a gentle kiss to her head.

"How do you think we should tell everyone?" He asks.

"Think we should post the pictures," she smiles, "the ones of us, let them find out for themselves."

"I love that," he says, "here, you pick which one, and help me come up with a caption, I'm awful at those."

She takes the phone out of his hands, scrolling through the pictures of them. 

"This one," she says, and looks up at him, "hey, Race?"

"Hmm?"

She kisses him, fingers tangling in the strands of hair that peak out from the back of his beanie. He tastes like apple cider and red bull, and somehow it works. She smiles as she pulls away, but Race brings her back into his chest and kisses her again. 

"God you're good at that," he breathes, and she smiles again.

"You're not so bad yourself."


End file.
